The Jerry Jones daughter lawsuit refers to a set of overlapping cases between the Dallas Cowboys owner and Alexandra Davis, a Texas woman who says Jones is her biological father. Davis sued in 2022 to establish paternity and later filed a defamation case; Jones countersued for breach of a confidential 1998 agreement with Davis’s mother. All of the litigation ended in a July 2024 settlement that dismissed every claim, left the 1998 agreement in force, and released Jones from a court order requiring him to take a DNA test.
Who Alexandra Davis Is
Alexandra Davis was born in Little Rock, Arkansas, on December 16, 1996. Her mother, Cynthia Davis, met Jones in 1996 while working as a ticket attendant for American Airlines at a Little Rock airport. Cynthia was married at the time, and the two began a romantic relationship. Genetic testing during Cynthia’s divorce later established that her then-husband was not Alexandra’s biological father.1Fort Worth Star-Telegram. Woman Claims to Be Jerry Jones’ Daughter
Alexandra grew up in North Texas and graduated from Southern Methodist University. She later worked as a congressional aide for U.S. Representative Ronny Jackson of Texas and, according to court filings, disclosed Jones’s alleged paternity to the FBI while obtaining a security clearance for work connected to the Trump White House.1Fort Worth Star-Telegram. Woman Claims to Be Jerry Jones’ Daughter According to her 2022 lawsuit, Jones had never met her in person.
The 1998 Settlement Agreement
Every lawsuit in this dispute turns on a single document. On August 14, 1998, when Alexandra was two, Jones and Cynthia Davis signed a “Settlement, Release and Covenant Not to Sue.” Jones agreed to pay Cynthia a lump sum of $375,000, cover pregnancy-related medical expenses, provide housing, and set up two trust funds for Alexandra until she turned 21. In return, Cynthia and Alexandra were barred from publicly identifying Jones as Alexandra’s father, disclosing the terms of the agreement, or suing Jones to establish paternity.2Fort Worth Star-Telegram. Jerry Jones Countersuit Details Financial Support3Courthouse News Service. Jones v. Davis Counterclaim Filing
Jones has never publicly acknowledged being Alexandra’s father. In court filings he stated that he made roughly 230 payments totaling about $1.9 million before Alexandra turned 18 and another 140 payments totaling about $1.2 million afterward, including four years of tuition at SMU. Jones put the total at approximately $3.2 million.4Courthouse News Service. Dallas Cowboys Owner Heads to Trial Seeking $1.6M in Paternity Dispute
Davis’s Lawsuits Against Jones
In March 2022, Alexandra Davis filed a lawsuit in Dallas County seeking to void portions of the 1998 agreement while claiming she remained entitled to its trust payments. She dropped that case within two months. In April 2022, she filed a second Dallas County suit focused solely on establishing paternity. Through her attorney, she said she was not seeking money but wanted Jones declared her father and his name added to her birth certificate.5ABC News. Dallas Cowboys Owner Jerry Jones Gave Millions to Woman3Courthouse News Service. Jones v. Davis Counterclaim Filing
In March 2023, Davis added a defamation lawsuit in federal court in Texarkana, Texas. She alleged that Jones and his associates had run a deliberate public campaign portraying her as an “extortionist” and “shakedown artist” after her 2022 paternity filings. U.S. District Judge Robert W. Schroeder III dismissed the case, ruling that Davis qualified as a “limited public figure” and had not shown Jones acted with actual malice. The remaining defamation claims were dismissed in March 2024.6ESPN. Judge Dismisses Defamation Lawsuit Against Jerry Jones7CBS News Texas. Jerry Jones Trial Countersuit in Texarkana
Jones’s Breach of Contract Countersuit
In May 2023, Jones went on offense. He sued Alexandra Davis and Cynthia Davis-Spencer in Texarkana federal court, alleging they had breached the 1998 agreement by filing the paternity suits, releasing confidential information to the media, and publicly identifying him as Alexandra’s father. Jones sought $1.6 million in attorneys’ fees and a declaration that the 1998 agreement remained binding.8Courthouse News Service. Dallas Cowboys Owner Settles Contract Suit
The Paternity Test Order
While the federal case moved through Texarkana, the Dallas County paternity suit produced a significant order against Jones. In December 2022, a Dallas County judge ordered him to submit to genetic testing. Jones appealed. On February 19, 2024, Dallas County District Judge Sandra Jackson upheld the requirement, giving Jones the choice of admitting he was Alexandra’s father or taking the test.9Lone Star Live. Dallas Cowboys Owner Jerry Jones Must Take Paternity Test Jones appealed that ruling too, and the appeal was still pending when the parties settled.
How the Trial Ended
Jones’s breach of contract countersuit went to trial before Judge Schroeder in Texarkana on July 22, 2024. Schroeder had already ruled the 1998 agreement valid, so the jury’s job was to decide whether Alexandra Davis had ratified it at 18 and whether the confidentiality terms had been breached.4Courthouse News Service. Dallas Cowboys Owner Heads to Trial Seeking $1.6M in Paternity Dispute
Cynthia Davis testified on the first day, describing herself as “very desperate” after Alexandra’s birth and powerless during the 1998 negotiations.10Fort Worth Star-Telegram. Cynthia Davis Testimony in Jones Trial The following day, Donald Jack Jr., the attorney who negotiated the 1998 agreement, testified that Alexandra had asked to renegotiate the settlement in December 2017 and suggested $20 million would be enough for her to drop the matter. Davis’s attorney told jurors that figure was tied to what Alexandra believed an illegitimate child of Jerry Jones Jr. had received.11Missoula Current. Dallas Cowboys Daughter Paternity Case
The trial never finished. After a lunch recess on the second day, attorneys met outside the judge’s chambers. Judge Schroeder then announced that all litigation had been resolved.12Dallas Morning News. Trial in Jerry Jones Countersuit Comes to Sudden Resolution
What the July 2024 Settlement Did
The settlement announced on July 23, 2024, ended every case at once:
- Alexandra Davis dismissed all of her pending lawsuits against Jones with prejudice, meaning they cannot be refiled.
- Jones dropped his breach of contract countersuit and did not pursue his $1.6 million attorneys’ fee claim to judgment.
- Jones is not required to take the DNA test that had been ordered in Dallas County.
- The 1998 confidentiality and support agreement remains in force.
The financial terms of the new settlement were not disclosed. Jones’s attorney told reporters the outcome returned the parties to where they had been before the litigation began. Davis’s attorney said “everybody was happy.”13NBC DFW. Jerry Jones Countersuit Ends14WBAL-TV. Cowboys Owner Jerry Jones Countersuit Trial
Jones’s Only Public Comment
Two days later, at the Cowboys’ training camp in Oxnard, California, Jones addressed the matter briefly. “We got it resolved like I wanted,” he said. “It was unfortunate, but it is resolved. And it was, of course, very sensitive with my family and it was very sensitive with the unique publicity that’s involved with the Cowboys, but it was resolved satisfactorily for all parties.” He said he would not comment further.15Dallas Morning News. What We Learned From Cowboys Training Camp Opening Presser Jones has never publicly acknowledged being Alexandra Davis’s father, and the 2024 settlement leaves that question legally unresolved.